Ancora ?!? Che palle...

I regret to inform everyone that I had to ban fzabkar and BlackST for 7 days.

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Dmitry

Good news, about BlackST in particular...
Sometimes fzabkar does help, BlackST - never.

I may not always be able to help, but I always try.

In fact I can't see why the DR community can't provide real DIY help to the end user. Surely DIY must be a tiny slice of the DR pie? ISTM that there is much to be gained in the way of PR for very little cost. In fact one person claims she hasn't seen more than two TVS diode failures since 1976, one of which was her own doing.

I understand that professional people have commercial interests to protect. In fact it must be difficult to appear helpful, for PR reasons, while not actually providing any real help, for commercial reasons. However, it's a completely different thing altogether to frustrate DIY attempts with disinformation.

I am concerned that visitors may see my reaction out of context. Therefore, I invite them to view the current thread in conjunction with this much earlier one, when I was just a relative newcomer:

what-the-circled-component-t13898.html#p907

For me, that particular thread has epitomised the HDD Guru experience. I had never before been abused for helping someone. In fact, I reserve the right to respond to that thread as soon as I can elicit the help of a 7200.11 owner with a multimeter. I suspect that the answer will be embarassingly simple.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

BlackST told someone he was wrong? My Gods, abuse of the highest order!

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

I was right, he was wrong. But that's beside the point.

The point is that he "told" me using an obscenity which had to be censored. If you think that's OK, then all I can say is that birds of a feather flock together.

Furthermore, neither he nor the OP had the decency to return to the thread to confirm my diagnosis, or to apologise. Instead the thread ended with some self indulgent obfuscation involving his supposed reverse engineering of a 7200.11 board, just as in the current thread.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

At the end of the day I think that most DR people are not really interested in messing about with trying to troubleshoot a PCB because it is immensely faster and easier to just replace it. I'm not saying that it could never fix a problem, just that it is rarely the efficient way to do it for a pro, and a typical DIYer is lacking the skillset

Moreover, in my experience the ratio of times the PCB is actually at fault to times the customer thinks the PCB is at fault is very low, maybe .1 or so

Anyhow, I think everyone here knows what kind of conversations will tend to result in some crapfest like this, and if everyone would agree to not contribute to them then we wouldn't have these problems. If you hate everything BlackST says, then quit talking to him, and vice versa

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

From what I have seen, most DR people do not have even basic electronics knowledge, let alone the skillset to troubleshoot a PCB. Most appear to come from a software or PC background. Therefore, as you say, it may be easier for them to replace a PCB in most circumstances. But what if the problem were as simple as a shorted 5V TVS diode? Alternatively, what if the problem demands a repair to component level, such as in the current thread where the adaptive information appears to be inaccessible? Do you experiment with ROM images until you find one that gives you access to the platters, or do you repair a faulty DC-DC converter? In any case, the solution that is most expedient to DR people is most likely not available to DIY-ers, in which case discussions like this one can be of immense benefit to them.

As always, I take criticisms and suggestions on board. In fact my avatar and signature line are a direct response to your suggestion to embark on a crusade to encourage people to backup. As for your suggestion regarding crapfests (am I allowed to say that?), I would instead suggest that people refrain from participating in a thread if they have nothing constructive to contribute.

BTW, I feel obligated to correct errors, especially my own. If that means I need to exchange words with an adversary, then so be it.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.